Saturday, April 30, 2011

Parallel - Vice Graced by Constancy

"For even tovice
They [women] are not constant, but are changing still;
One vice, but of a minute old, for one
Not half so old as that".

Cymbeline 2.4.180-3

"It is virtuous to be constant in any undertaking".

Measure For Measure 3.2.215

Now, Bacon: "Constancy is the foundation on which virtues rest...Even vices derive a grace from constancy."De Augmentis

Comment: The elevation of constancy as the foundation of virtues is a little odd. Odder still is the view, apparently shared by Shake-Speare, that constancy mitigates
vices. Note too the collocation of "even to vice" / "even vices".